Chapter 85

If it were not for his father’s order, he wouldn’t care about her life at all. Thinking of Duanmu Xi’s smile when she fell off the cliff, he felt dejected and sad.

Xiahou Shan sat on the ground in a daze and seemed not to recover from the previous astonishment.

“This is the last time I’ve saved you,” Lian Zhengyu took a dismissive glance at the dull Xiahou Shan and said coldly before turning around and leaving.

Xiahou Shan came to her senses instantly and rose from the ground quickly, “Lian Zhengyu, wait a minute…”

“Zhengyu, hold on…” Xiahou Shan kept calling Lian Zhengyu while running after him.

Xue Luochen stabbed the dagger into the cliff wall and climbed down with difficulty.

He lowered his head and took a look. It was all dark and he couldn’t see anything. He couldn’t even hear the dropping rocks reaching the bottom. He had climbed down for several hundred meters. Why wasn’t he about to reach the bottom yet? How deep was the cliff? Was this a bottomless abyss?

After climbing down for more than one hundred meters again, the vines tied to Xue Luochen’s waist finally tensed.

Xue Luochen’s hands and legs were slightly trembling now. He felt so exhausted. It was impossible for him to go down any deeper.

He looked up at the boundless cliff wall and knitted his eyebrows. The cliff was too deep and the vines were too long. Even if he shook the vines, they couldn’t feel the shaking for sure. It seemed that he had to climb up on his own.

Down the cliff, Xuanyuan Mo looked at the nearer and nearer ground and then summoned his Murdering Heaven Sword. He exerted all the mysterious Qi and inserted the sword into the cliff wall. The wall was instantly slit open. For the moment, the bottom of the cliff was full of clangs of metal hitting rocks.

Xuanyuan Mo held the Murdering Heaven Sword that kept slipping down with one hand and held the unconscious Duanmu Xi with the other hand. He wrapped Duanmu Xi up with his large sleeve in case that she would be hit by the scattered stones caused by the Murdering Heaven Sword.

After slipping down for more than one hundred meters, the Murdering Heaven Sword finally stopped slowly. Now, Xuanyuan Mo’s hand holding the sword had become badly mutilated. His fingers and the arm were all injured. Luckily, he was strongly capable. If it were another man, his arm would be definitely ruined. However, he didn’t seem to feel pain. He directly swung the Murdering Heaven Sword and carried Duanmu Xi to the bottom of the cliff.

“Xi…” Xuanyuan Mo called her gently but she just made no reaction. Feeling that Duanmu Xi’s condition getting worse and worse, Xuanyuan Mo was unprecedentedly flustered.

He looked around and a few seconds later, he quickly flew to the north.

Xue Luochen was still climbing up the cliff wall with difficulty, his limbs becoming numb. Looking at the endless top of the cliff, he really wanted to give up and fell into the bottomless abyss. However, thinking of Hua Ye’er, he strived to climb upward. His girl was waiting for him. He must go up there and couldn’t die here.

In the jungle, holding Chu Lian’er’s hand, Yue Ruye went to the place where Mei Luo and the others fought against the people in black.

Staring at the bodies of the people in black on the ground, Yue Ruye felt shocked and went forward to take a look carefully, saying in a stern voice, “Elder Mei and the others must be in trouble. Let’s go.” After saying that, Yue Ruye dragged Chu Lian’er and flew forward along the track of the bodies of the people in black.

Time passed bit by bit. The people on the cliff had become anxious. Hua Ye’er was as restless as ants on a hot pan.

“Why is there no response? How about me going down to have a look too?” Mu Jianfeng squatted down by the edge of the cliff and shook the vines, hoping to gain Xue Luochen’s response but he was disappointed.

“No,” Mei Luo said. She was also very anxious now. She was worried about Duanmu Xi, Xuanyuan Mo and Xue Luochen. She should have gone down there on her own. If anything happened to Xue Luochen, she could hardly absolve herself from the blame. Hence, at the moment, she couldn’t let any student take risks anymore.

“But…” Mu Jianfeng wanted to say something further but he was interrupted by Huangfu Yu.

“Jianfeng, be rational. Xue Luochen doesn’t respond. Maybe he has arrived at the bottom of the cliff. Let’s wait a bit longer.” For the sake of Mu Jianfeng’s safety, Huangfu Yu didn’t want him to risk his life going down there.

Mu Jianfeng looked at the dark cliff and suddenly shouted, “Xue Luochen…”

“Xue Luochen… Xue Luochen…” Several echoes reverberated down the cliff.

Hua Ye’er saw that and also ran to the edge of the cliff, shouting, “Xue Luochen…”

Xue Luochen almost unconscious on the cliff wall faintly heard Hua Ye’er’s calling him. It was his girl calling him. Xue Luochen was suddenly spirited. Since he could hear his girl’s voice, he must be not far away from the top of the cliff.

Xue Luochen shook the vines with excitement and meanwhile continued climbing upward as if being refreshed.

“Look. The vines are moving. They are moving,” Hua Ye’er shouted with thrill.

The people on the cliff heard that and all got together. They were all thrilled to see the shaking vines.

“Hurry. Pull the vines. Get Xue Luochen up here.” Huangfu Yu was the first one to collect himself.

“Oh, right. Hurry!” Several people worked together to pull the vines up.

On the cliff wall, Xue Luochen was delighted about feeling his waist being tightened. Due to the pull by Mei Luo and the others on the cliff, it was much easier and faster for Xue Luochen to climb up.

Now, Yue Ruye and Chu Lian’er also reached the cliff in a hurry.

“Come here to help.” Mu Jianfeng glimpsed Yue Ruye and Chu Lian’er rushing here and felt greatly ecstatic, shouting.

“Coming.” Yue Ruye brought Chu Lian’er to help pull Xue Luochen up without hesitation.

Thanks to their cooperation, Xue Luochen was finally pulled up.

Regardless of the others’ gaze, Hua Ye’er directly threw herself into Xue Luochen’s arms and burst out crying, “I was so afraid…”

Xue Luochen embraced Hua Ye’er tightly, leaving her to cry in his arms.

“Okay. I’m alright now.” While wiping her tears with his sleeves, Xue Luochen comforted her, “Don’t cry. Otherwise, others will laugh at you.”

Hearing that, Hua Ye’er finally stopped crying and broke loose from Xue Luochen’s arms shyly.

Xue Luochen was sitting now. It was not that he didn’t want to stand up but that he couldn’t. His limbs were all swollen.

“Have you seen Xuanyuan Mo and Xi?” Mei Luo asked.

The others also looked at Xue Luochen and waited for his answer. Only Yue Ruye and Chu Lian’er looked at each other in confusion.

Xue Luochen shook his head and said, “No, it is too deep. I didn’t reach the bottom of the cliff.”

Hearing that, everyone lowered their heads in disappointment.

Seeing everyone’s worried looks, Xue Luochen added, “I think they are still alive. When I was down there, I felt the shaking of the cliff wall. It must be caused by Xuanyuan Mo.” Although the shaking was subtle, he just felt that it had something to do with Xuanyuan Mo.

Xue Luochen’s words kindled the hopes of everyone again.

“I also believe that they are still alive. Xuanyuan Mo will keep Miss Duanmu safe,” Feng Xifan looked afar and said. They must be alive!

Huangfu Yu heard that and also said, “Yes, Xi and Elder Xuanyuan are both so competent. They will be fine.” She hadn’t met Imperial Grandpa yet. She must be alright.

Hearing them talking, Mei Luo felt less worried. They were right. She should have faith in the two young people’s capabilities. They would be fine for sure.

“We will rest here for three days before continuing going forward.” The reason why they rested here for three days was to wait for Xi and Xuanyuan Mo and also allow Xue Luochen and her to recover from the fatigue and the injuries. Without Xuanyuan Mo, if they were not in their prime, the trial would probably have to end in advance. Gladly, three days were enough for her to recover from the injuries.

The others just said okay and went to have a rest.

It was a few days later when Duanmu Xi woke up. She opened her eyes with difficulty. The first thing that came to her view was Xuanyuan Mo’s handsome bearded face.

“Xi, you are finally awake.” Upon seeing her dark purple eyes again, Xuanyuan Mo almost shed tears in joy. Duanmu Xi touched his bearded face and felt so pitiful for him. Why did he look like this?

Xuanyuan Mo held Duanmu Xi’s hand, put it on his lips and landed his kiss, “How are you feeling?”

Duanmu Xi heard Xuanyuan Mo’s husky voice and shed tears again.

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling pain?” Seeing Duanmu Xi shed tears, Xuanyuan Mo got anxious. He raised his hand to wipe tears for Duanmu Xi.

Suddenly, Duanmu Xi grabbed Xuanyuan Mo’s hand, “Your hand… Your hand…” Duanmu Xi’s voice was also hoarse and worried.

“It’s okay. Just some skin injuries.” While comforting Duanmu Xi gently, Xuanyuan Mo took away his right hand and hid it in the sleeve.

“Let me see your hand. Let me…” Duanmu Xi cried with difficulty and struggled to rise. Seeing that, Xuanyuan Mo directly held her into his arms.

Duanmu Xi hurriedly grabbed Xuanyuan Mo’s right hand. Looking at the badly mutilated hand that had started to decay, Duanmu Xi burst into tears.

Her tears dropped on the back of Xuanyuan Mo’s hand, which burned his hand and his heart.

“Xi, don’t cry!” Xuanyuan Mo wiped tears for Duanmu Xi in a flurry. As a man not good at speech, he didn’t know how to comfort her at all but only said repeatedly, “Xi, don’t cry!”

Moments later, Duanmu Xi finally stopped crying, took out the Styptic Powder from her storage ring, applied it to Xuanyuan Mo’s injuries and bound them up.

Looking at the injuries on Xuanyuan Mo’s arm, Duanmu Xi felt heartache again, “Why didn’t you deal with your hand before? If it is left unattended, it will be really ruined.”

“No, it won’t.”

“If you didn’t awake, it wouldn’t even have the chance of being ruined. Now that you are awake, you can cure it for sure,” he thought.